AIBU to hate my washing machine?

[Pluvia]

We had an old Siemens machine for 15 years until we finally had to admit that its bearings were beyond repair. We looked at all the alternatives, felt overwhelmed, so stuck with Siemens and paid something like £850 for reliability and efficiency. Ouch.

Six months down the line, with the washing come out of the machine sopping wet time and time again, we called the Siemens engineers in. The machine is fine. It's us. Apparently when you have a duvet cover that needs washing you can't just put it in on its own, it has to be balanced by other items or the spin won't work. And we haven't been carefully placing the laundry in the drum and smoothing it out flat. Tut tut.

Apparently we need to weigh the washing before putting it in, even though the machine is designed to take 9kg and it's obvious that the load doesn't weight 9kg. But reducing the time on some of the long eco-washes means that they can only cope with low weights of laundry.

This isn't what we signed up for. We're not dinosaurs. During lockdown my partner stayed for months with her elderly parents and used their AEG without issues (and without weighing and balancing and placing the items carefully into the drum). In the weeks between our old machine dying and the new one arriving we used neighbours' and friends' machines successfully. None of them seemed to need all the fussing that our new snowflake of a machine does.

The worst thing of all is that it's a well-built machine that's likely to keep going for 15 years...

I'd be inclined to regard it as not fit for purpose and ask for a refund.
I bought myself a more expensive washing machine a few years ago and had problem after problem with it - had the engineers out 7 times in under 2 years before they replaced it. Next one I buy is going to be basic, cheap and cheerful so I can bung in what I like when I like and if it doesn't work so well sometimes at least I won't feel cheated again

@ScarlettSunset

I'd be inclined to regard it as not fit for purpose and ask for a refund. I bought myself a more expensive washing machine a few years ago and had problem after problem with it - had the engineers out 7 times in under 2 years before they replaced it. Next one I buy is going to be basic, cheap and cheerful so I can bung in what I like when I like and if it doesn't work so well sometimes at least I won't feel cheated again

cheapo Beko washer drier here; used daily, no fuss, five years in and never needed anything doing or worrying about!

I have a newish dirt cheap Hotpoint. My previous one lasted fifteen years. They wash whatever amount you chuck in them, and it all comes out just lightly damp, so dries rapidly on my radiators. They have no fancy gadgets, bells or whistles, they just do a bloody efficient wash.
My only minor complaint is that it makes a brief, quiet, piteous little wail before beginning each wash, as if distressed at being asked to work!
I have a similarly dirt cheap Indesit dishwasher - they also last me 15 to 18 years, and are trouble free. I have never thought expensive models worth it, in terms of either performance or longevity.

Pluvia
Only on Mumsnet would a thread about crap modern washing machines turn into an inquisition on why anyone would occasionally need to wash a duvet cover...
Under no circumstances must you admit to washing you knickers in with the duvet cover or all hell will break lose.

Or used sanpro with your towels

In our first home we bought (secondhand) a Carlton washer/dryer. Sharp intake of breathe across the land......oooh don't get one of them, it won't last etc etc. It lasted us 15yrs and was briiliant. Our current machine is a cheap Beko. Works well, variable spin, easy to operate and not fussy about load distribution.

I’ve got a Bosch serie 6 iDos and things come out so dry. The cottons programme is 2hr 40 minutes but it’s got a great 1400 spin on it and I just shove stuff in Willy nilly. I can also dump a whole bottle of liquid detergent and liquid conditioner in and it self doses. Bloody love the thing.

Mine has the balance issue if I try to wash two large things that are very different weights, for example a brushed cotton duvet cover and a cotton fitted sheet. It's annoying but I assume it is to protect the machine as it is often the drum bearings that go first (that's certainly how my last machine died! ).

I hate how the water efficiency means it doesn't rinse properly though 😑

Bought a Samsung Washing 10.5K machine 6 months ago, it is awful, keeps changing to an eco wash
3hrs 20min, doesn't spin properly. Totally agree with washing duvet on its own when it has been puked on!! Sings a stupid tune when load has finished

@Pluvia

Only on Mumsnet would a thread about crap modern washing machines turn into an inquisition on why anyone would occasionally need to wash a duvet cover...

I thought that! These are the same people who make a chicken last a week.

What an annoying problem to have. I have a Miele and it's brilliant - no balancing or weighing (wtf) involved. Cost about the same as yours IIRC.

I hope you find resolution OP as this would do my head in.

@LauraNicolaides

Sounds like poor design rather than a one-off fault with your particular machine. Which they can't admit because they'd have to fix or replace it for everyone who phones up and moans. So they spin you some bullshit with their fingers crossed behind their backs.

Sounds like a pretty good design in some respects, if it stops excessive vibration. Simple physics says an unbalanced load will cause vibration. The last few machines we’ve had have done the same on unbalanced loads. I think the increase in built-in machines is part of the reason - excess vibration would rattle them apart and then people would complain their washing machine was wrecking their kitchen. The internals will be the same on a built in or free standing machine. I guess also in flats excessive vibration would be rather antisocial, and either way more vibration will lead to shorter life and probably higher energy by consumption!! Both bad if manufacturers want AAA+++ ratings for their appliances.

Unfortunately, the fundamental laws of physics aren't compatible with you wanting to wash a single item in a larger capacity washing machine drum.

My replacement Miele has the same issue, randomly deciding it doesn't want to spin, it's not a patch on my old machine, wouldn't recommend at all.

I just chuck a couple of dry towels in and respin if mine does this. It solves the issue and towels are not too wet when they come out but it is annoying.

@MrsPelligrinoPetrichor
Why did you buy it? Were you oversold by a shop. There are plenty of Miele machines without twin dos. Get a Miele engineer out to do an update on it and ask him to turn the twin dos off.

I've had loads of washing machines over the years. I now only buy cheap. Beko is my latest and it's fab. All of the more expensive machines I've had have been a nightmare. Bosch the worst.

Ask them for a refund!

@nordica Do you get white soap lines on dark clothing too?

[quote user1498572889]@MrsPelligrinoPetrichor
Why did you buy it? Were you oversold by a shop. There are plenty of Miele machines without twin dos. Get a Miele engineer out to do an update on it and ask him to turn the twin dos off.[/quote]
Nothing else was available when we bought it, everything had a 6 week wait.

As far as I know you can't deactivate the twindos permenantly. The thing is so over engineered it's crazy.

Mine also randomly doesn't spin well @asparalite.

I’ve got a cheap Hoover which is great apart from the fact that if I hand wash sweaters and put them in the machine to either rinse and spin or just spin, the items just keep turning round and round but the spin doesn’t click in. This must be a balance issue of some sort as if I turn the machine on with nothing in it the spin works fine. I haven’t tried adding other items in with the sweaters as I can’t see the point of adding dry items to wet ones.
Apart from this issue the spin on all the other programmes works fine.

My mum has the same problem with a new Bosch. I've tried to explain about the need to balance the load (my Hotpoint also cuts out during spin if I don't do this). Having been a lab scientist and spent decades balancing centrifuges carefully to avoid bending the rotors, it's a bit hard for me to appreciate that some people struggle to understand this.

FatOaf, you're assuming that everyone has enough of the right kind of washing to be able to balance out every load. When I'm home alone for weeks at a time I may have one or two garments that I need to wash on a cool / delicate wash. I don't own anything else that needs that wash. What do I do? Throw in some clean stuff to balance it up? Ask the neighbours if they've got delicates needing washing?

When we did our research there was no talk of a minimum required load or the need to balance the load. If there had been, we would have run a mile.